Last week, Buccaneers Head Coach Todd Bowles completed the requirements for a Bachelor of Science in youth and community development through the Center for Accelerated and Adult Education at Mount St. Mary's University. Bowles began his empowering, yet unorthodox adult educational journey in the Summer of 2020, prior to the Buccaneers' Super Bowl Championship campaign. Anthony Agnone, Bowles' longtime agent and 1975 Mount St. Mary's alumnus encouraged the endeavor. Agnone recommended that Bowles reach out to Mount St. Mary's about completing his degree through the university's Center for Accelerated and Adult Education, academic programming based in nontraditional settings. Working with Associate Provost David McCarthy, Bowles created an interdisciplinary degree in youth and community development to optimize the growth of youth he interacts with.
"Completing my degree was something I had always wanted to do over the years because it was something I had promised my mother when I went to play in the NFL, and I wanted to follow through on that promise," said Bowles. "Over the years, as I became a father, it became something I wanted to do in order to set a proper example for my sons as they continue on their educational paths. I have also worked pretty extensively with children through my various community projects, and I felt it was important to show them they can achieve whatever they set their mind to."
Bowles fulfilled a longtime promise to his mother in earning his degree, one that inspires his children to forge their own paths in desired fields, respectively.
McCarthy, professor for the required course "Ethics and the Human Good," described that in addition to completing assignments about the teachings of Plato and Aristotle, Bowles developed and presented his philosophy of coaching as well as strategies, struggles and barriers in developing a team and individuals for the good – in both football and life. "We would laugh often about how well his years of coaching have brought him to the same place as classics in moral philosophy," McCarthy said.
The same dedication Bowles commits to the game of football in preparing game plans every week and mentoring athletes under his tutelage, he allocated in training his mind through educational studies.
